well, it's not currently the case in MD (still need to be symptomatic and/or proven to be in close proximity to someone tested positive)--this, from my portal at Kaiser and looking at the published state guidance prior to coming down to NC last week, while my Mom goes through surgery. Drive-up testing appointments required PCP referral based on those guidance...basically, I couldn't be tested.
...same in NC right now from what I have seen. I did have to take her to a drive up last Saturday that was required ahead of her Tuesday surgery.
Yes, I don't think all places are like that, but the overall issue is the fundamental lack of testing kits available in the US, compared to other developed nations. It never had to be this way. It was a specific, direct decision that fundamentally limited test kits from the beginning.
I think places like CVS are kinda doing their own thing? ....but from what Mom mentioned to me, they are also issuing kits that allow the user to swab themselves, and they are essentially just swabbing the inner lining of their nose, not the actual sinus cavity. People, especially those that have absolutely no training or experience in anything clinical, aren't going to be shoving a swab deep into their own sinus cavity when they are in control...so those would be garbage tests.
I was kinda shocked to see how, up until last week, statewide testing in NC was abysmally low, at least going by the numbers that were being reported. It was shockingly bad, and they only started ramping up recently--which obviously also influences their spike in case numbers. ....which again, is alarming because you know how dangerously inaccurate all the numbers have been to this date.
So, you don't have to assume it is what people are saying, you can look at specific published numbers, based on local populations, and when you see less than 10% of the population being tested (maybe less--I'm honestly not sure if they are differentiating between people that have had multiple tests or not) in certain states, you know there is a problem. Or, is it just a refusal to actually report the necessary data? Another problem, and a far more insidious one.